Selling a car on eBay

bland_porn

Hi,

I've been offered a pretty crappy price (£4750) from a local garage and I'm thinking of putting my motor up on eBay for a three day listing. I'm pretty sure I could get an extra grand for the car after comparing prices on Autotrader.

I've been banned for drink driving and I'm moving shortly, so touring around local dealers is out of the question as I'd have to get a mate to drive it around and I haven't got the time at the moment.

Soooo... does anyone have experience of the fees eBay charge for car sales? Are they extortionate? Any horror stories? Any satisfied sellers out there?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

malkyh

Last car I sold on eBay went for £222 and I paid about £40 in fees.

verityboo

I have used ebay to sell a number of cars but have always used the classified-ad format. £15 to list and no final value fees. You can also leave the ad live until the car is sold and collected. If listed as an auction or buy-it-now you have the problem of someone clicking buy and then never hearing from them!

bland_porn

verityboo wrote: »

I have used ebay to sell a number of cars but have always used the classified-ad format. £15 to list and no final value fees. You can also leave the ad live until the car is sold and collected. If listed as an auction or buy-it-now you have the problem of someone clicking buy and then never hearing from them!

So if I listed it as a classified does that mean I would name my price, say £5750, and that price would remain fixed until someone clicked buy?

I've had my eBay account for years and have about 150 positive feedback stars, but I've never used the classified feature.

MX5huggy

Use here to work it out, don't accept PayPal because the fees are high and they buyer could do a charge back.

http://ecal.!!!!!!/en/fee_calculator/ebay.co.uk/

If you sell for £5k you should pay about £33 in fees, including a £8 reserve fee. If you just set the start price at say £4.5k you will spend £25 on fees, if it does not sell fees will be £10.

I've used it 5 or 6 times to sell cars between £200 and £12k never been messed about by buyers, eventual buyers have never seen the car before auction end but have always paid up. Be totally honest in you listing and make it clear by the type of detail you put in that you are not a dealer.

verityboo

bland_!!!!!! wrote: »

So if I listed it as a classified does that mean I would name my price, say £5750, and that price would remain fixed until someone clicked buy?

I've had my eBay account for years and have about 150 positive feedback stars, but I've never used the classified feature.

Yes, they are like an ad on autotrader where you advertise for a price. There is no button to click for people to buy, they have to contact you directly (e-mail or you can give a phone number). Must people would expect to negotiate a bit on the price so take that into account.

You can also list at a set price buy-it-now where they can click a button to buy but the problem is people clicking to buy and then you never hear from them (they were drunk, changed their mind....). You then have to pay to list again and try and reclaim the fees from the first sale.

bland_porn

MX5huggy wrote: »

Use here to work it out, don't accept PayPal because the fees are high and they buyer could do a charge back.

http://ecal.!!!!!!/en/fee_calculator/ebay.co.uk/

If you sell for £5k you should pay about £33 in fees, including a £8 reserve fee. If you just set the start price at say £4.5k you will spend £25 on fees, if it does not sell fees will be £10.

I've used it 5 or 6 times to sell cars between £200 and £12k never been messed about by buyers, eventual buyers have never seen the car before auction end but have always paid up. Be totally honest in you listing and make it clear by the type of detail you put in that you are not a dealer.

This looks like a good option for me. There are some mitigating factors on the price (scuffed front bumper and plastic wing mirror cover pulled off by some pesky kids) but nothing too drastic.

I'll obviously photograph these and mention them in the listing but I'm wondering if I sell for £5000 cash in hand and the buyer wants to haggle a bit when they see the car. Has this ever happened to you?

verityboo

As said above, just make sure the ad is accurate and you can include 12 photos. That way it is more difficult for them to come up with reasons to knock down the price. You can also list buy-it-now but accept offers - if you accept an offer clearly state that you will not negotiate further

bland_porn

Oh! As Columbo would say, one more thing.... I cleared the HP on the car yesterday by settling the balance. The finance company said it could take up to two weeks for the letter to come through stating that I'd paid the final settlement.

If the person comes to collect next week and I don't have proof that the HP is settled is there a free online HP checker so that they can be reassured that the car is paid for?

Mikedkt

Gum tree is better than eBay you don't loze so much in charges eBay and PayPal.

fivetide

verityboo wrote: »

Yes, they are like an ad on autotrader where you advertise for a price. There is no button to click for people to buy, they have to contact you directly (e-mail or you can give a phone number). Must people would expect to negotiate a bit on the price so take that into account.

You can also list at a set price buy-it-now where they can click a button to buy but the problem is people clicking to buy and then you never hear from them (they were drunk, changed their mind....). You then have to pay to list again and try and reclaim the fees from the first sale.

Actually you can list with a price "or best offer" so people can bid you on it that way. Once you accept the offer they should be held to that price.

It doesn't cost any extra to do that and as it is a classified ad, no selling fees.

My experience is though, people still treat it like an auctuion and wait until the last minute to buy! Madness really especially as the ad goes up for 28 days.

Gumtree is another decent shout and worth a try for a few days, quality of buyer can vary a lot though!

5t.